


Stuck in the Middle of Nowhere

by ao_no_senshi



Category: Ultraman Gaia
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-20
Updated: 2011-01-20
Packaged: 2017-10-23 17:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/253201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ao_no_senshi/pseuds/ao_no_senshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just your average day. Until a monster grabs your jet and carries you off who knows where, mid-battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stuck in the Middle of Nowhere

When he'd wanted to learn how to fly, Katusmi thought darkly, this had not been what he'd had in mind. The monster had snatched both his fighter jet and Gamu's EX out of the air mid-battle and had then taken off. He had no idea where the monster was going other than that they were heading north and were probably somewhere over Hokkaido now judging by the speed the monster was flying at and how long they'd been in the air. He'd tried everything he could think of to get free short of firing his missiles at the thing and that only because he was more likely to hit Gamu's EX than the monster. He'd be lucky if he hadn't burnt out his thrusters trying to get free, because he was going to need those.

And there was another problem, because Gamu wasn't answering any of his hails and from this angle Katsumi couldn't make out if the guy was even conscious or not. He thumped the controls of his jet in frustration, wishing he had a better idea of what the hell was going on: whether the lack of communication was because his radio that was out, if it was Gamu's that was out or whether it was just that Gamu was hurt and unconscious and thus not hearing him and the radios themselves were fine.

"Gamu!" He tried again in the hope that if he kept calling something would get through. Or Gamu would wake up and hear him, one or the other. "Gamu, answer your damn radio if you can hear me. _Gamu!_ "

There was a sudden jolt as the monster veered sideways, throwing Katsumi hard against the straps keeping him in place. That was going to bruise later, he knew, but at least the movement meant he now had a better angle for his missiles, one that didn't have Gamu in the line of fire. "Alright," he said grimly. "Take _this._ "

The monster roared as the missiles hit home, its arms flailing in the air in pain. Gritting his teeth against the dizzying turbulence Katsumi fired up his thrusters again, this time managing to work his way free. There was no sign of movement from EX and he frowned, angling around to a better position to fire from that would make the monster let go without hitting the jet itself. He fired off a volley and the monster roared again, throwing EX into the air where it seemed to float for a moment before slowly starting to tumble towards the ground.

"Gamu!" Katsumi shouted. "Your engines! Fire your engines! _Gamu!_ " He cursed when there was no response; Gamu had to be out, there was no other explanation. Why wasn't his autopilot compensating, though? Wasn't that why Gamu had installed PAL in the first place? Damn it, he was going to crash and--

"Kajio-san?"

The voice was slurred but Katsumi didn't care, relief washing over him in a cool wave. "Gamu, get your engines going," he replied. "You're going to crash otherwise."

"Engines. Right."

"Gamu, this is no time to be spacy!" he shouted, his earlier relief vanishing at Gamu's confusion. If he couldn't get it together... " _You are going to crash_ if you don't start your engines. Do you hear me?"

"Start the engines," Gamu repeated, sounding marginally more aware. "Understood, Kajio-san."

Right on cue EX's engines flared into life, slowing the previously inexorable descent and Katsumi sighed in relief: at least Gamu wasn't going to end up crashing and injuring himself worse than he already was. A dark blur out the corner of his eye got Katsumi's attention and he swore as he recognised the monster bearing down on them. Throwing his jet sideways saved him from the worst but his thrusters didn't escape undamaged, the monster's claws scraping across them and sending him into an uncontrolled descent, the snow-covered ground rushing up to meet him.

***

"Owww." Shoving open the roof with difficulty, Katsumi unbuckled himself from his seat and clambered out, almost losing his balance when he tried to stand but he managed to keep himself upright instead of landing face first in the snow. For a moment he thought his vision was blurry but then the shapes around him resolved themselves into trees and his jet, which was sputtering puffs of smoke into the air.

"That's not good," he muttered, rubbing his hands up and down his arms, trying not to think about how cold it was and how XIG jets didn't carry survival gear for weather and terrain like this. He could just about make out the damage to the thrusters from where he was standing and he winced: there was no way he could get Lightning One flying again with her engines that badly gouged and he could only hope that EX wasn't as badly damaged otherwise they would be stuck.

Wait. EX? His head snapped around, scanning the area for any sign of where it could have come down. Gamu had been hurt even before their unceremonious landings and if he'd been hurt further...

Ah, over there. He could see smoke rising in the distance above the trees and he set out at a brisk walk, tramping through the snow and fighting his way past trailing branches that seemed determined to smack him in the face one after another. He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking, occasionally shouting Gamu's name to try and pinpoint the location, but he eventually found EX, its nose stuck in the ground, with Gamu struggling to climb down.

"Gamu, watch out!" he shouted, just as his friend lost his grip and fell the remaining distance to the floor. Running over the snow as best he could, Katsumi wrapped his hands around Gamu's arms and hauled him up until he was mostly upright, Gamu's hands holding tightly onto his waist to keep his balance. He didn't realise quite how close they were standing until Gamu's nose bumped against his own and he started in surprise, his gaze flickering down to Gamu's mouth reflexively. Under better circumstances it would be easy to just lean forward and...

He shook his head firmly. What was he doing, thinking about kissing at a time like this? They were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way of flying out and the odds of rescue were slim to none. His priorities were usually better than that.

"Don't worry, Kajio-san," Gamu said cheerfully and Katsumi jumped, wondering if he'd accidentally said any of that out loud. "I can fly us out of here," Gamu continued, letting go of him long enough to make a zooming motion with his hand.

Katsumi stared at his friend, at the crashed plane still stuck in the ground, then back at Gamu. "And how are you going to do that?" he demanded, turning Gamu around to get a look at EX, his hands firmly on Gamu's shoulders. "EX is stuck and Lightning One's engines are wrecked. If _I_ couldn't fly either of them out of here, no offence but neither could you."

"I _can_ ," Gamu pouted, turning back to face Katsumi and making the zooming motion again. "I really can, Kajio-san."

"Look at yourself," Katsumi suggested. "Look at yourself and tell me you're fit to fly anything even if we _had_ anything that could fly."

Gamu's eyes were a little unfocused and was that...? He brushed Gamu's bangs out of his face and hissed at the gash on the side of his head. "That settles it," he said grimly before Gamu could do anything stupid like say he was fine when he obviously wasn't. "Head injuries mean you don't fly, Gamu and that's final."

"But--"

" _Final_ , Gamu."

Gamu pouted again. "Alright."

"And don't pout at me," Katusmi muttered. Without fail it made him feel like the biggest heel in the universe when Gamu gave him that look and he really didn't want to see it now, even though he was _right_ , damn it.

"Where's Lightning One?" Gamu asked, peering over his shoulder as if he could see it from here.

"Back that way," Katsumi shrugged, jerking his thumb in the direction he'd come from. "The monster clawed up the engines, she's not going anywhere anytime soon. We're on our own for now, Gamu."

Gamu nodded slowly and rested his head against Katsumi's shoulder and Katsumi felt his eyebrows going up in surprise, even as his hands moved of their own accord to rest against Gamu's back. Gamu was a tactile person by nature, yes, but generally not to this extent. Unless, of course, he was concussed and most likely freezing, anyway. "I'm cold," came the plaintive mumble into his shoulder and Katsumi cursed softly. That gash on Gamu's head wasn't going to help with that and they didn't have anything that would let him patch it up either.

"Our uniforms weren't made for this weather," he agreed, trying not to sound as worried as he felt. They didn't really need winter uniforms because the Aerial Base had a decent heating system and Tokyo was nowhere near this cold anyway, but out here the lack of insulation was going to be a big problem. Wracking his brain, Katsumi tried to recall everything he could about winter survival. There wasn't much: conserving body heat being the main one and something about snow being a good insulator. Winter survival wasn't really covered in XIG's Tokyo branch, although they were touched on, mainly because they were unlikely to ever find themselves in a situation like this. When they got back, he promised himself, he was going to talk to Team Seagull and find out everything they thought he should know in case this ever happened again.

"Come on," he said quietly, pushing Gamu back gently. "We need to get you warm and the snow's our best bet."

"The snow?"

"Yeah, the snow. Don't you pay attention in Koyama-san's survival seminars?"

"He does seminars?"

"How can you have been with XIG for months and not know that?" Katsumi muttered. "Come on, we need to dig out some snow and then you can stay there while I set up EX's emergency beacon."

"Okay."

The lack of protest that he could do it himself was worrying but Katsumi couldn't afford to dwell on it, or on how cold he was himself once he'd got Gamu settled, his shivering fingers making hard work of setting up the emergency beacon and making sure it was transmitting on as many frequencies as he could manage.

"Okay," he muttered to himself when he was done. "That's that." Now all they could do was wait and try not to freeze before anyone found them. Digging out some more snow he settled in behind Gamu and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

"Conserving body heat?" Gamu asked quietly and Katsumi nodded, forgetting that Gamu couldn't actually see him.

"That's right. Unless you want us both to freeze to death?"

"Not complaining," Gamu murmured, his head leaning back against Katsumi's shoulder. "You're warm."

"That's the point," Katsumi replied, resolutely keeping his eyes on the trees in front of him. He needed to stay awake but he wasn't going to let himself get distracted either.

***

"Kajio. Kajio-san, wake up."

Katsumi forced his eyes open - he'd only closed them for a moment, honest - and stared in numb confusion at the sight of Koyama-san looking down at him. "Koyama-san?"

"That's right," the man smiled, looking relieved. "Come on, Kajio, up you get. We've got blankets with your name on them."

"'m not cold," he muttered, looking around and taking in the sight of the remaining members of Team Seagull, scanning past the downed EX before landing on Peace Carrier. He wasn't cold but he thought he was shaking. That or the ground was.

"Take them anyway." Koyama-san's stern tone left no room for disagreement and he nodded slowly, barely noticing when the first was draped around his shoulders.

"Why's the ground shaking?" he asked as Koyama-san helped him to his feet. "Earthquake?"

"Gaia's fighting the monster that brought you here," the man said. "Don't worry about it."

Katsumi nodded. It was about time Gaia showed up, he thought tiredly. If he'd been here sooner he and Gamu wouldn't have been in this mess.

"Kajio?"

"Mm?"

"Where's Gamu?"

"Gamu? He's right..." Katsumi's voice trailed off as he looked around the area again. "Here." He groaned when he realised where Gamu had to have gone. "Lightning One, probably. He thought he could fly us out of here, he must have gone looking for it." Idiot. He was going to kill him for this later. What was he thinking just wandering off like that?

"The Commander probably wouldn't like it if you did that," Koyama-san told him, faint amusement in his voice. Katsumi frowned before realising he had to have said that out loud, after all. His brain to mouth filter obviously wasn't working so well today. "He likes Gamu. Which way's Lightning One?"

Katsumi wrinkled his forehead as he stared at the landmarks, trying to orientate himself. Which way had he come? He couldn't remember.

"Koyama-leader, over here! There's footprints!" came a shout and then there were hands manoevring him towards Peace Carrier.

"Alright Matsuo, I'm coming. Michael, get Kajio-san into Peace Carrier and then catch up with us."

"Roger." The tall black man smiled and nodded towards the waiting ship. "Don't worry, Kajio-leader, they'll find Gamu in no time."

"I should go with them," Katusmi decided, turning to follow the other two members of XIGs rescue team but was thwarted when Michael firmly steered him back on course.

"You need to rest, Kajio-leader," he said. "Koyama-leader will find Gamu and he'll bring him back here. He can't have gone far, right?"

You never knew with Gamu, though, Katsumi thought. He always managed to find ways of surprising you. "I really should..."

"Rest," Michael repeated, walking him up the ramp into Peace Carrier. "Chief, we found Kajio-leader. Koyama-leader is going after Gamu now."

Chief Tsutsumi spun round in the pilot seat and smiled. "Good to see you in one piece, Kajio."

"Good to be in one, sir," he replied, somehow dredging up enough energy to salute. "Permission to go after Gamu, sir."

"Denied," the Chief replied calmly. "Sit down and warm up, Kajio, that's an order."

"But..." Clearly Chief Tsutsumi didn't understand how important it was that he was part of the search to find Gamu. What if Gamu had got lost? What if he'd tripped and fallen because of that concussion? He couldn't just stay here and do nothing, he had to go and...

"Don't make me repeat myself," was the stern warning. "Seagull will find Gamu and bring him back, you will stay here until I tell you otherwise. Understood?"

Katsumi sighed and slumped into the chair at the back of the cockpit. It was also Gamu's seat when he was flying in Peace Carrier. Damn it, he should be out there looking, not stuck in Peace Carrier and forbidden to leave. "Yes, sir."

***

When he woke up it was dark and he was lying in a bed. He sat up with a groan, his head pounding. Was he back on base? He didn't remember Peace Carrier even taking off but it had to have, he supposed, because this was definitely Aerial Base's infirmary. But if they were back... had they found Gamu or not? He couldn't remember and that wasn't a good sign. He'd probably passed out or fallen asleep again before Seagull had returned.

It took a moment for him to realise he wasn't alone in the infirmary, that Kitada and Ogawara were both slumped in the corner, leaning against each other, the pair of them sound asleep. He smiled at the sight, relieved that at least the other two members of his team were unhurt. He was briefly tempted to wake them up to see if they knew where Gamu was but he dismissed the thought almost instantly. It wouldn't be fair to wake them, not when he could just as easily go and find Gamu himself. He climbed out of the bed, taking a moment to be glad he wasn't on any IVs that would get in his way, and walked slowly out into the main section of the infirmary, looking for the other bed. Gamu had to be there, surely. They wouldn't have left without him.

He moved slowly across the room, taking care not to trip over anything, and as he got closer the dark blurry shapes settled into medical equipment and the other bed. He was relieved to find that there was at least someone lying there, someone who hadn't been as lucky as he had and was hooked up to an IV that was dripping steadily. He got a bit closer and was able to make out Gamu's features, grabbing hold of the empty chair by the bed to stop his knees giving way on him. There was a bandage around Gamu's head but aside from that he looked alright, no sign of any serious injury aside from the gash on his head. He sank down into the chair and lightly smacked Gamu's shoulder.

"Don't scare me like that again," he told his friend sternly, even though he knew Gamu couldn't hear him. "I mean it, Gamu, you hear me?" There was no reply, obviously and Katsumi grinned ruefully, leaning back in the chair and making himself as comfortable as was possible. "I'll take that as a yes."


End file.
